April 17, 2023

Google has introduced a new policy that prohibits lending applications from accessing personal data like as images, videos, and contacts.

The measure is intended to combat predatory lending practices by lenders that use this data to harass and scare customers into paying off outstanding loans, which frequently include exorbitant interest rates.

Failure to repay these debts, according to accounts, results in a variety of social penalties, including threats, physical harassment, and obituary manipulation, among others. Debt collectors have messages and modified photographs sent to debtors’ friends and family after gaining access to their personal contacts and images.

Google stated in a statement that it is revising its personal loans policy to prevent applications that provide or enable personal loans from accessing user contacts or photographs. This policy is planned to go into effect on May 31, 2023, and will be implemented in markets that have been hurt the most by the practice, including India, Kenya, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

Google also said it will seek “country-specific licensing documentation to prove their ability to provide or facilitate personal loans.” The move comes as lenders’ authorisation to operate in the digital lending area grows.

The new policy by Google is expected to go a long way in protecting users from predatory behaviour by loan sharks and other lenders, especially in developing countries where financial regulations are often weak or non-existent.

The sources for this piece include an article in ThePaypers.